Energy Storage Opportunities Opening Up in US and Europe

According to Marcus Elsässer and other executives at Intersolar North America 2013, Energy Storage + PV is the next big thing and we should all prepare ourselves to see more of it. Three years ago, Intersolar decided to focus a bit on the technology and signed up about 10 battery manufacturers to exhibit at its European show — the largest solar power show in the world. This year, there were more than 200 energy storage companies exhibiting.

Elsasser and representatives from the German solar industry believe the focus on energy storage has come as a result of the declining FIT in Germany and other parts of Europe. Now, instead of selling PV energy to the utility to make money, consumers are looking to save money. By using energy storage consumers can now use the energy they generate themselves instead of having to purchase energy from the grid. Markus Hohner of the International Battery Energy Storage Alliance (IBESA) use the term “Prosumer” to describe this phenomenon of people producing and using their own energy.